A Savior's Darkness
by Acen Warren Halliwell
Summary: They were connected at birth; one a symbol of absolute purity, the other pure darkness. Now that the light's gone dark, it's up to Lily to take over as savior and get rid of the ultimate evil, but will Dark Swan pull Lily into the darkness that's been inside her forever? Takes place before "Birth".


**A.N. Hey guys! This is my very first OUAT fanfic. I've actually wanted to do one for a while, but never quite figured out what to do, until I remembered the whole connection that Emma and Lily have kinda had their whole lives. It takes place in a universe where (pains me to say it) "Birth" never happens and we never see (in my opinion) the most dramatic Dark One of all-Dark Hook… or will we? I will have the swashbuckling Neverland pirate appear though, don't worry! Anyway, I'm just gonna jump straight into it from where Emma lets Hook die, not gonna bother going back over that. Enjoy!**

(Hook's POV)

"No!" Emma cried over my body, her fingers running through my hair furiously. I was standing off to the side, watching the woman I love pine over losing me. The tears started to well up in my eyes and, if they were to fall, I wouldn't try to stop them. To think after all this time, I'm really gone and I wasn't even able to let Emma get rid of the darkness inside of her first. I wish I could just tell her it'll be alright, that it's not the end of the world.

"Unfortunately…" Came a woman's voice from behind, "you're not going to be able to do that..." I turned around to see a redhead in a satin red dress and slick red heels. "But I doubt that's going to stop you from trying." She smiled, her smile appearing forced while her eyes showed absolute joy. "Hello Captain Hook."

"And who the bloody hell are you?" I asked the woman.

"Your ferrywoman." Bells instantly began to toll and the landscape changed immediately to become the pond where the fury tried to take Robin to the Underworld. The moon was approaching its pinnacle in the sky which was absolutely star-and-cloudless.

"You're the ferryman of the Underworld?" I asked, turning to the woman, who had her back to me as she faced the pond.

"I'm not Charon."

"So why isn't Charon here to pick me up instead of you?"

"Gave him the night off. Besides, I couldn't possibly resist collecting the soul of such a handsome man for myself."

"Thank you for the compliment but I'm in a committed relationship."

"Which death ended, so you're fair game. Now come on, Killian," She twirled her hand as a black staff with a silver skull at the top appeared in it. She slammed it down and a fog spread across the water. "We have much to discuss." One step on the water saw her not faltering and another step caused her to stand on it completely, not sinking below the surface. She looked to me. "Are you coming or are we going to stand here all night… because I'm frankly alright with either option?"

"Well, if I must…" I followed the redhead and we walked into the land of the dead, leaving Emma (and Storybrooke) behind forever.

(Lily's POV)

Emma shot up, holding Excalibur, before crying out, "I'm getting rid of the Dark One!" She held the point to her stomach and started to thrust it through her when I rushed forward and took the sword from her.

"No, you can't do this." My eyes gained the yellow glow of my dragon side. "There has to be another way to save you."

"How?" She asked me, her eyes red. "I'm the Dark One now and Excalibur is the only thing that can get rid of a Dark One. I have to do this."

"No Emma." Mary Margaret spoke up. "There has to be another way to do this. We fought so hard, _Hook_ fought so hard to keep you alive and get rid of the darkness. Don't just throw it all away."

"But he's gone now. He died because of something I did. I'm more of a danger than a help; all Dark Ones are."

"Well, I'm not losing my daughter; Dark One or not. David and I went to extreme lengths to keep you good and I am not going to let that effort be lost in vain!"

"I can't do this. I need to get out of here." Emma rushed for the entrance, me following after her when I got stopped by Merlin.

"She needs to work through her emotions." He spoke. "Losing the love of your life takes time to sort through and it's going to be even worse for Emma."

"Well, I can't just let her do it alone." I pushed him aside. "I'm not going to let that Dark One destroy my friend." I stormed out in search of Emma, yelling her name as I ran from Granny's. "Emma!" I called once I had reached the forest. I had caught a glimpse of white and ran to the body, where I saw Emma sitting on a rock alone.

"Go away Lily."

"I'm not leaving."

"I don't want to talk, I just want to be alone right now. You of all people should understand that."

"We've always been by each other's side."

"When I wasn't pushing you out of my life, sure."

"I did deserve it though."

"You got my darkness all because my parents were so worried about me. All I do is ruin lives; yours, Killian's…"

"But look at all the lives you've improved. Everyone in Storybrooke was reawakened because of you; plus, the Evil Queen isn't evil anymore because you gave her a chance and helped her find the love of her life."

"Well yeah, but I did all of that as the Savior; now that I'm The Dark One, my legacy as an icon of heroism is gone, unless I can make sure that no other Dark Ones can come after me. And there's only one way to do that…" She reached for the sword and I retracted.

"No way. I'm saving you, Emma; I'm not gonna lose my only beacon of light."

"I only mess things up, Lily; can't you see that?"

"I'm not giving up on you; none of us are."

"She's persistent, I'll give her that." Came a man's voice with a giggle. I looked to the left, seeing a man with bumpy green skin standing there. He looked a lot like Rumplestiltskin, but how could that be when he's in Storybrooke? "Maybe that came from you."

"Go away." Emma said to the man.

"Testy."

"I said leave!" Emma snapped, throwing a fireball from her hand towards Rumplestiltskin, who vanished.

"You should know that's not going to work, Dearie."

"Leave her alone!" I snapped at the man, a pulse shooting from me that forced him into a tree. Just like that, he was gone and Emma was looking at me with shock.

"Ho-how did you just do that? How did you see him? I thought only I could do that."

My huffing stopped immediately as I questioned, "Who was that?"

"My Dark One Guide. He lives in my head. How did you do that?"

"I don't know. I felt your anger and I-I just snapped. Maybe we should go ask Merlin. He's bound to know the answer."

"Yeah. Sounds like a good idea." Emma and I walked off, stunned at what just happened, quickly entering Granny's. "Merlin, something weird just happened when me and Lily were talking. My Dark One Guide, the one who's sort of coaching me on accepting my Dark One destiny, was getting me angry and then Lily just shoots a pulse at him."

"She what?!" Regina questioned. All eyes then fell on mine.

"I don't know what happened. I just heard Rumplestiltskin's voice and then got overwhelmed with emotion and I exploded and sent him back. We were hoping Merlin could help figure out why that happened."

"No idea what this means." He shrugged his shoulders, clueless.

"Well, it certainly means something." Emma spoke. "What if we try the Dark One Vault? Maybe they know something?"

"I don't know Emma." Merlin warned. "If you go to that vault, what you find might make your transformation to the Dark Side complete. We could lose you forever."

"And if that happens…" Regina started, swiping Excalibur from my grip. The sword glistened in the diner lights. "I know what I have to do."

"That won't happen." I declared. "I'm not losing Emma. Now come on, we're losing daylight." With that, Emma, Regina, and I set out for the Dark One Vault, Emma leading the way into the unknown.


End file.
